Unclaimed safety deposit box treasures to be sold at auction

A small-scale version of the TV show "Storage Wars" is coming to White City next week.

By RYAN PFEIL

A small-scale version of the TV show "Storage Wars" is coming to White City next week.

Unclaimed property from abandoned safety deposit boxes across the state will be up for bid starting at 9 a.m. Friday, April 4, at 855 Industrial Circle in White City. An auction preview will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, April 3.

Julie Curtis, spokeswoman for Oregon Department of State Lands, says items up for grabs include silver bars, a $20 bill from the Confederacy, Michael Jordan basketball cards and antique tools.

All auction proceeds will go into the state's Common Schools Fund — which distributes money to Oregon K-12 public schools twice a year. The schools won't get the auction proceeds; the money will generate interest in the fund.

The interest will be distributed to schools, but the proceeds from the auction will be kept by the state in case the box owners ever come calling.

"That money is available for claim forever," Curtis says.

The property up for auction comes from 300 to 500 or so abandoned safety deposit boxes around the state. A safety deposit box is considered abandoned if the owner fails to make rental payments or can't be found for two years. Then banks and other financial institutions turn over unclaimed contents to the state.